1. Field of the Invention
An embodiment of the present invention relates to coding and/or decoding of an image, and more particularly, to a multi-codec transforming and/or inverse transforming system, medium, and method by which an image is transformed and/or inverse transformed so as to code and/or decode the image.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional image decoding systems may include an entropy decoder, a dequantizer, an inverse transformer, and the like.
A transformer may further be used transform an input image using an orthogonal transformation coding technique, for example. In particular, a transformer may be used to transform the input image using a discrete cosine transform (DCT) in the orthogonal transformation coding technique. In a case where the transformed image has accordingly coded, an inverse transformer may be used to inverse transform the coded image.
However, conventional various codecs, such as moving picture experts group standards (MPEG) format H.264 format and a VC-1 compressed video bitstream format, use different transformation coefficient matrixes.
FIGS. 1A-C illustrate conventional transforming or inverse transforming systems using various transformation techniques, with FIG. 1A illustrating a transforming or inverse transforming system for a MPEG format bitstream, FIG. 1B illustrates a transforming or inverse transforming system for a H.264 format bitstream, and FIG. 1C illustrates a transforming or inverse transforming system for a VC-1 format bitstream.
As shown in FIG. 1A, for transformation or inverse transformation, a MPEG format codec may be implemented with a 1-dimensional transformer 10, a first coefficient value adjuster 12, a 2-dimensional transformer 14, and a second coefficient value adjuster 16. Similarly, as shown in FIG. 1B, for transformation or inverse transformation, a H.264 codec may be implemented with a 1-dimensional transformer 30, a 2-dimensional transformer 32, and a second coefficient value adjuster 34. Further, as shown in FIG. 1C, for transformation or inverse transformation, a VC-1 codec may be implemented with a 1-dimensional transformer 50, a first coefficient value adjuster 52, a 2-dimensional transformer 54, an enhancement transformer, and a second coefficient value adjuster 58.
Such systems that can implement the MPEG format, H.264, and VC-1 codecs independently transform or inverse transform images and thus are not compatible with one another. For example, an image transformed by the MPEG format codec cannot be inverse transformed by the H.264 and VC-1 codecs. To overcome this problem, there have been attempts to integrate the MPEG, H.264, and VC-1 codecs into a multi-codec. However, such a multi-codec includes only selective components of the MPEG format, H.264, and VC-1 codecs. Further, in such a multi-codec, the volume of the multi-codec becomes remarkably increased.
In addition to these drawbacks, a considerable amount of time is required to design the multi-codec, and there are increased related costs for manufacturing the corresponding multi-codec system.